Devarim - Deuteronomy - Chapter 23

Chapter 23

1A man shall not take his father's wife, nor shall he uncover the corner of his father's [cloak].

אלֹא יִקַּח אִישׁ אֶת אֵשֶׁת אָבִיו וְלֹא יְגַלֶּה כְּנַף אָבִיו:

shall not take: [I.e.,] betrothal has no effect on her [even after the father’s death], and he cannot legally marry her. — [Kid. 67a]

לא יקח: אין לו בה לקוחין ואין קידושין תופסין בה:

nor shall he uncover the corner of his father’s [cloak]: [This seemingly superfluous phrase comes to include] the שׁוֹמֶרֶת יָבָם of his father [i.e., the widow of his father’s brother who died without children, who awaits (שׁוֹמֶרֶת) her brother-in-law (יָבָם) to either wed her or release her through the rite of חֲלִיצָה. See Deut. 25:5-10.] She is [thus] intended for his father [who is her brother-in-law]. But has he not already been admonished regarding her by [the verse] “[You shall not uncover] the nakedness of [i.e., commit incest with the wife of] your father’s brother” (Lev. 18:14)? However, [the prohibition is repeated here] to make the transgressor liable on her account for two negative commands (Yev. 4a), and to juxtapose it to“A bastard (מַמְזֵר) shall not enter [the assembly of the Lord,” to teach us that a מַמְזֵר,“bastard,” is only [a child of] a forbidden union punishable by כָּרֵת [“excision,” as is the case with a child born of one who takes his father’s שׁוֹמֶרֶת יָבָם]. All the more so [does it apply to one born] from a forbidden union punishable by the death sentence by the court, for in forbidden unions incurring the death penalty by the court, there is no case that does not [also] incur the penalty of כָּרֵת [Yev. 49a]

2[A man] with injured testicles or whose member is cut, may not enter the assembly of the Lord.

בלֹא יָבֹא פְצוּעַ דַּכָּא וּכְרוּת שָׁפְכָה בִּקְהַל יְהֹוָה:

with injured testicles: [I.e.,] one whose testicles have been injured or crushed. — [Sifrei 23:111]

פצוע דכה: שנפצעו או שנדכאו ביצים שלו:

whose member is cut: Heb. וּכְרוּת שָׁפְכָה, one whose male organ is cut, [to the extent] that his semen no longer shoots forth in a continuous flow, but rather drips and trickles, and thus he cannot produce children. — [Yev. 75a]

An Ammonite [or Moabite] shall not enter [the assembly of the Lord]: [I.e.,] he shall not marry an Israelite woman. — [Yev. 77b]

לא יבא עמוני: לא ישא ישראלית:

5Because they did not greet you with bread and water on the way, when you left Egypt, and because he [the people of Moab] hired Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor in Aram Naharaim against you, to curse you.

7You shall not ever seek out their welfare or their good, all your days.

זלֹא תִדְרשׁ שְׁלֹמָם וְטֹבָתָם כָּל יָמֶיךָ לְעוֹלָם:

You shall not [ever] seek out their welfare [nor their good]: Since it says [in the case of a runaway slave], “He may reside with you in your midst” (verse 17), one might assume that this one [the Ammonite or the Moabite] is the same. Therefore, Scripture states: “You shall not [ever] seek out their welfare [or their good]” - [Sifrei 23:114. See Yalkut Shimoni , Mossad Harav Kook, fn. 54]

You shall not despise an Edomite: Completely, [but only the first two generations,] even though it is appropriate for you to despise him, because he went forth against you with the sword (see Num. 20:18-21).

לא תתעב אדומי: לגמרי ואף על פי שראוי לך לתעבו שיצא בחרב לקראתך:

You shall not despise an Egyptian: Absolutely, [but only the first two generations,] even though they cast your male [infants] into the Nile. What is the reason [that you may not despise them]? Because they hosted you in a time of dire need; therefore:

Children who are born to them in the third generation: But other nations, are allowed [to marry Jews] immediately [after their conversion]. Thus, you learn from here that someone who causes a person to sin does worse to him than one who kills him, for one who kills him, kills him [only] in this world, whereas one who leads him to sin removes him from [both] this world and from the world-to-come. Therefore, Edom, who came forth against them with the sword was not [completely] despised. Similarly, Egypt, who drowned them. These, however, who caused them to sin, were [completely] despised. — [Sifrei 23:117]

10When a camp goes out against your enemies, you shall beware of everything evil.

יכִּי תֵצֵא מַחֲנֶה עַל אֹיְבֶיךָ וְנִשְׁמַרְתָּ מִכֹּל דָּבָר רָע:

When a camp goes forth [against your enemies], you shall beware: for Satan accuses in time of danger [thus extra care must be taken in time of war, when danger prevails]. — [Yerushalmi Shab. 2:6; Tanchuma, Vayiggash 1]

כי תצא וגו' ונשמרת: שהשטן מקטרג בשעת הסכנה:

11If there is among you a man who is unclean because of a nocturnal emission, he shall go outside the camp. He shall not come within the camp.

[If there is among you a man who is unclean] because of a nocturnal emission: Scripture is speaking here in terms of that which usually occurs. [Emissions usually occur at night. However, the law applies equally if it occurs during the day.]- [Sifrei 23: 120]

מקרה לילה: דבר הכתוב בהווה:

he shall go outside the camp: This is a positive commandment;

ויצא אל מחוץ למחנה: זו מצות עשה:

He shall not come within the camp: This is a negative commandment. He is forbidden to come within the camp of the Levites, and all the more so, to the camp of the Shechinah, [comprised by the Mishkan and its courtyard]. — [Sifrei 23:120, Pes. 68a]

15For the Lord, your God, goes along in the midst of your camp, to rescue you and to deliver your enemies before you. [Therefore,] your camp shall be holy, so that He should not see anything unseemly among you and would turn away from you.

You shall not deliver a slave: As the Targum [Onkelos] renders it [עֲבַד עַמְמִין, a Jewish servant who had been sold to a gentile] (Gittin 45a). Another explanation: even a Canaanite servant of an Israelite who fled from outside the land to the Land of Israel. — [Gittin 45a]

There shall not be a prostitute: Heb. קְדֵשָׁה, one who is unbridled, prepared (מְקֻדֶּשֶׁת), and ready for prostitution.

לא תהיה קדשה: מופקרת, מקודשת ומזומנת לזנות:

and there shall not be a male prostitute: Heb. קָדֵשׁ, one [i.e., a male] ready for homosexual relations. - [Kid. 68b] Onkelos , however, renders: “A woman of the daughters of Israel shall not become a wife to a slave.” [Nevertheless, Onkelos 's explanation does not contradict that given above, for] such [a woman] is also susceptible to illicit relations, since this sort of marriage [between a Jewess and a slave] is not legally binding. For [slaves] are compared to donkeys, as it says,“Stay here with the donkey (עִם-הַחֲמוֹר)” (Gen. 22:5). [The choice of the word] עִם [rather אֶת [denotes] those compared to a donkey. - [Kid. 68a] [Abraham said this to his lads when he left them to take Isaac to offer him as a sacrifice. The lads were both slaves, both Eliezer and Ishmael, the son of his handmaid, Hagar. Similarly, the second half of the verse is rendered by Onkelos as follows:]“And no Israelite man shall take a maidservant as a wife,” since he too, becomes a קָדֵשׁ [“one reserved for illicit relations”] through her, because every time he cohabits with her, it is considered prostitution, since his marriage to her is not binding. — [See Pes. 88b]

a prostitute’s fee: [For example,] if one gave her a lamb as her fee, it is unfit to be offered up as a sacrifice. — [Sifrei 23:127]

אתנן זונה: נתן לה טלה באתננה פסול להקרבה:

the price of a dog: If one exchanged a dog for a lamb [this lamb is unfit for a sacrifice]. — [Sifrei 23:127; Temurah 29a]

ומחיר כלב: החליף שה בכלב:

because both of them [are an abomination to the Lord, your God]: Heb. גַּם הֵם. [The extra word גַּם, lit.“also,” comes] to include [a prostitute’s fee or the price of a dog, which has been] converted [to another form]. For example, wheat, which he (sic) made into flour. — [Temurah 30b] [Sefer Yereim ch. 207 reads: which she made into flour.]

גם שניהם: לרבות שינוייהם, כגון חטים ועשאן סלת:

20You shall not give interest to your brother, [whether it be] interest on money, interest on food or interest on any [other] item for which interest is [normally] taken.

You shall not give interest: Heb. לֹא-תַשִּׁיךְ‏. This is an admonition to the borrower that he should not pay interest to the lender. Afterwards is the admonition to the lender, [in the verse:] “You shall not give him your money with interest” (Lev. 25:37). - [See Sifrei 23:128] [In some editions, the word “afterwards,” is omitted, because that verse does not appear after this one, but in Leviticus (Leket Bahir).

21You may [however,] give interest to a gentile, but to your brother you shall not give interest, in order that the Lord, your God, shall bless you in every one of your endeavors on the land to which you are coming to possess.

You may [however,] give interest to a gentile: But not to your brother. A negative commandment that is derived by inference from a positive commandment [such as this,] is considered a positive commandment. [Thus, in this passage we have the positive commandment (born out of the inference: “to a gentile,” i.e., but not to your brother, plus two negative commandments: 1) “You shall not give interest to your brother” (verse 20), and 2) “but to your brother you shall not give interest” (verse 21). Hence, one who borrows from a Jew with interest] transgresses two negative commandments and one positive commandment. — [B.M. 70b]

Observe [and do] what is emitted from your lips: This adds a positive commandment [i.e., to pay one’s vows in time,] to the [aforementioned] negative commandment [expressed in verse 22, namely,“you shall not delay in paying it”].

מוצא שפתיך תשמר ועשית: ליתן עשה על לא תעשה:

25When you enter your neighbor's vineyard, you may eat as many grapes as you desire, until you are sated, but you shall not put [any] into your vessel.

When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard: Scripture is speaking of a worker [who enters his employer’s vineyard to work there]. — [B.M. 87b]

כי תבא בכרם רעך: בפועל הכתוב מדבר:

as you desire: As many as you wish.

כנפשך: כמה שתרצה:

until you are sated: But not excessive eating. — [B.M. 87b]

שבעך: ולא אכילה גסה:

you shall not place [any] into your vessel: From here [we learn that] Scripture is referring only to the period of the vintage, when you place [grapes] into the owner’s vessel (B.M. 87b). However, if the worker is entering [the vineyard] in order to hoe or or cover the exposed roots [with earth], he may not eat [any of the grapes]. — [B.M. 89b]